


We're Okay

by Radiday



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 19:24:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15007676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Radiday/pseuds/Radiday
Summary: Fred has a panic attack.





	We're Okay

**Author's Note:**

> I originally wrote this after the mayoral debate episode when the Black Hood showed up. Set after the scene where Archie and Veronica do it in his room.

One minute he’s reaching for a glass to fill with scotch, the next he’s sitting on his living room couch, his son kneeling beside him and Veronica Lodge setting a different glass filled with water on the coffee table.

“Dad? Can you hear me?” Archie’s words are soft and low, his hand rests on Fred’s knee.

Fred blinks and lifts his head to meet Archie’s eyes. “Arch?”

“Dad. Oh, thank god, Dad. Are you okay?”

Fred opens his mouth to speak, but his stomach is churning and he’s not confident that he won’t puke if he talks.

Veronica, stepping off to the side to let the father-son duo have a moment, asks in a voice just as soft as Archie’s, “Do you remember what happened?”

Fred shakes his head and opens his mouth to try to speak again, but he’s interrupted by the doorbell.

“That must be the paramedics. Ronnie, can you let them in?”

Fred watches Veronica nod. He swallows thickly and says, “You didn’t need to call them.”

Archie, who’s still crouched beside his dad ( _don’t his legs hurt?_ Fred thinks) leans up slightly to rub his father’s shoulder. “Dad, it’s okay. Don’t worry, they’re just gonna look you over, okay?”

Fred resists the urge to yell, because he’s still not entirely sure what happened. He watches the two paramedics, who introduce themselves as Rita and Bill, walk into the house and make their way to him.

Rita shakes Fred’s hand and asks him if he knows what his name is, what his birthday is, where he is. All of which he aces, until she asks, “Do you remember what happened?”

Fred shakes his head, trying not to shrink away from the penlight she’s now shining in his eye.

Archie, sensing his father’s frustration, and realizing that nobody actually told him what happened, chimes in. “We were upstairs,” he says, gesturing to himself and Veronica. “We heard glass shatter, so we came down to make sure everything was okay. Dad was standing in the kitchen, just shaking and crying.”

“Were his eyes open?”

Archie nodded from his position next to Fred. “Yeah, and he kept mumbling, ‘No, please. Don’t hurt them. Don’t do this.’ We kept trying to get him to come sit down, but he wouldn’t. Just kept repeating the same thing over and over again. He finally sat down after like five minutes.”

Bill nods while writing the vitals that Rita reads out to him. “Has this ever happened before, Fred?” Bill asks. 

“I-uh,” Fred sputters.

“I’ve never seen anything like this happen to him,” Archie says, coming to the rescue. “Is he gonna be okay? Does he need to go to the hospital?”

“No! No hospital! I’m fine, really. You all should leave. I’m sorry about this,” Fred says, voice high and panicked, as he starts to stand up. 

“Hey, hey, Fred,” Rita says, crouching down on Fred’s other side, and pulling him back down to the couch. “It’s okay. I don’t think you have to go to the hospital. Your blood pressure’s a little low, do you know what it normally is?”

“Normal,” Fred whispers, his voice suddenly hoarse. He clears his throat. “Higher end of normal.”

Rita nods. “Normal? Okay, that’s good. Your pupils are reactive, that’s good too. Your heart is racing, though.”

“What do you think happened?” Archie asks. 

“His blood pressure could’ve dropped for any number of reasons. If he hasn’t eaten, or he’s dehydrated. It could also be a panic attack.”

Rita feels Fred stiffen under her hand. She looks from Fred to Bill curiously, discretely gesturing her head, indicating to Bill to take Archie to the next room.

The exchange didn’t go unnoticed by Veronica, who keeps her eyes glued to the paramedics. “Let’s give Rita some room to work,” Bill says. 

“A panic attack?” Archie asks as he sits down at the kitchen table, eyes still fixed on his father. “Why would he have a panic attack? He’s never had one before.”

“These things don’t discriminate. They can happen anytime. But we don’t know that that’s what it was.”

For her part, Rita had risen, and was now sitting on the coffee table in front of Fred. “Is there something you want to tell me?” she asks.

Fred clears his throat and looks quickly at Veronica, who’s now trying her best to look busy in the hallway. He looks back up into Rita’s warm eyes. “It’s happened once before. A few weeks after the shooting, when I was still in the hospital. The doctor gave me a Xanax prescription, but I never used it.”

“You told your doctor about this?” She doesn’t ask more about his hospital stay, doesn’t need to. She recognized Fred the second she step foot into the house. Bad news travels fast around here. 

Fred nods. “They did all kinds of tests, thought it might have had something to do with the shooting. But they couldn’t come up with anything. They made me see a psychiatrist while I was in the hospital but…”

So this was a panic attack,” Rita says, mostly to herself. She looks at Fred with kind eyes. “But what, Fred?”

“But I already knew the bill was going to be ridiculous, I didn’t want to make it worse. And I just- I didn’t want Archie to find out.”

“Your son doesn’t know?”

Fred shakes his head. “It would just worry him. He’s got enough on his plate.”

“Fred,” Rita starts, but is interrupted by Bill. “Rita, you got a sec?”

Rita nods and follows Bill into the hallway, giving Archie the chance to come back into the living room. “How are you feeling, Dad?”

“I’m fine, really, son. I’m sorry this happened. I didn’t mean to ruin your night.”

Veronica, who had been doing her best to stay out of the way, but had had kept a keen ear on Fred’s conversation with Rita, finally steps back into the room. You didn’t, Mr. A,” she says. “All that matters is that you’re okay.”

“Well, Fred,” Rita says, reemerging into the living room, Bill on her heels, “I think we can skip the hospital this time.”

“Wait, what?” Archie says, his eyes narrowing. “You’re just going to leave him here? You really don’t think he should get checked out at the hospital?”

“Archie, we’re fairly confident that what happened to your dad was a panic attack,” Bill says, placing a hand on Archie’s shoulder.

“How can you be sure? You just shone a light in his eyes and took his blood pressure! You can’t possibly know! What if there’s something seriously wrong? What if he’s bleeding internally or something?!”

“Archie-,” Rita starts, but Fred cut her off.

“It’s happened before, son,” Fred mumbles, leaning forward, elbows resting on his knees, hands clasped.

“What?”

“When I was in the hospital, a few weeks after Pop’s. The same thing happened. The doctors did all the tests back then. They brought in a psychiatrist. Gave me a prescription for Xanax.”

“This has happened before?” Archie says, trying not to yell. Veronica rubs his back in a meager attempt to calm him down. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“We can talk about this later,” Fred says, finally standing up. “Let’s let these guys get back to work. Thank you both,” Fred says, shaking hands with Rita, then Bill.

Rita smiles. “Anytime, Mr. Andrews. You take care of yourself, okay?”

And with that, they were gone. Fred shuts the door and turns to face Archie and Veronica with baited breath.

“Ron,” Archie says, “will you be okay getting home?”

Veronica nods. “Yeah, of course. Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do?”

“No, no, we’ll be fine.”

“Archie, you should take her home,” Fred says.

“I’ll be okay, Mr. Andrews.”

“I’m not leaving you, Dad.”

“Arch.”

“ _No_ , Dad.”

Fred sighs and turns to Veronica. “Please let Archie know when you get home, okay?”

“Of course,” Veronica says, gathering her things.

“And Veronica?”

“Yeah, Mr. A?”

“Thank you.”

“Anytime. You both get some sleep. I’ll see you at school tomorrow,” Veronica says as she opened the front door, turning back to kiss Archie on the cheek.

The door shuts once again, leaving both Andrews men to face each other.

“Dad…” Archie trails off, unsure of what he could say to make this better.

“Arch, I’m sorry about this,” Fred says, shoving his hands in his pockets as he looked at his feet.

“Why didn’t you tell me? I could’ve helped you. I still can.”

Fred shakes his head, walking back into the living room and sinking onto the couch. “I didn’t want you to worry. Archie, I know you stayed up every night after Pop’s to watch the door. I didn’t want to make it worse.”

“But Dad, you can’t just deal with this alone. We have to help each other.”

Fred doesn’t say anything. He feels the tears forming in his eyes, and tries his best to blink them away. “Yeah,” he mumbles, face buried in his hands.

“Dad…” Archie says as he noticed his father’s body start to tremble.

Fred looks up, unable to hold the tears in anymore. He shoves his palms into his hands to try and spare himself some semblance of pride.

Archie doesn’t know what to do, but finds himself embracing Fred in a hug, letting him sob into his shoulder. “It’s okay, Dad,” he whispers. “I’m right here. You’re okay, I’m okay. Nothing bad is going to happen to us.”

Fred didn’t respond, instead letting the sobs rip through his body, shaking both him and Archie.

“We’re going to get through this. I’m okay, you’re okay. We’re okay. We’re okay.” Archie made this his mantra and continues to whisper the words into his father’s ear.

His mind briefly flits to a memory of himself at eight years old, getting lost during a family trip from the zoo. He remembers screaming that he wanted his dad at anybody that would stop and listen. ‘I want my dad. Please help me find my daddy!’

He’s brought back to the present by his father’s shaking body, and finds it ironic that, even now, all he wants is his dad.

But he’s older now, and his dad needs him more, so he swallows his sadness and continues repeating the words. “I’m okay, you’re okay, we’re okay.”


End file.
